Through Dark Eyes
by katerys
Summary: Dark dreams leave Loki unsettled, and a god watches over him.
1. Chapter 1

_ There's a hate inside of me like some kind of monster._

_ I tried to save you, but I can't find the answer._

_ I'm holding on to you; I'll never let go._

_ I need you with me as I enter the shadows._

~RED, _Shadows_

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Loki felt as if he had walked for days. No matter how far he traveled, the landscape remained the same: dark, desolate, foggy nothingness. If anything, the fog just got thicker and the land more empty and dark. Eventually, after what seemed like hours of walking, he came to a three-way crossroad. A woman was standing in the middle of the intersection, holding an unlit torch high over her head, her face hidden beneath a black hood. Loki felt like he knew this place and this women, as if they had met before somehow.

"Where am I?" he cried out miserably.

The woman looked up at him through her hood, eyes unseen but watching. "You are at the crossroads: the place between all things."

He was suddenly afraid. "I don't understand!"

The woman let out an audible sigh. "This darkness is your darkness, this fog represents the very fog that clouds your judgement, and the desolation that you see rises from the belief that you. . . ." Her voice trailed off as she saw the helpless look on his face.

"I'm what?"

She lowered her head and bit her lip, causing it to bleed. Loki began wondering if she would ever answer. At last, she spoke, "You think you are alone." Her voice was almost a whisper.

"Woman," he hissed, "I _am_ alone."

"I could light a torch for you," the cloaked woman said. "To show you the way out of darkness."

Loki crossed his arms in irritation and straightened his back, standing tall and proud. "I understand now," he began, walking slowly toward her as he spoke. "This is all about Thor, is it not? Odin sent you to discourage me from reaching my goal, thus ensuring the kingdom to my brother." He grabbed her with his icy hands and pulled at her cloak. "As soon as I know your identity, I will have you dead, wit—"

The cloak fell to the ground, empty.

"—_witch,_" Loki snarled.

All alone now, he resumed walking, choosing the path straight ahead of him. As he pressed on, the fog thickened, and it felt as if it had arms that were strangling him, choking him, the denser it grew.

Loki woke up, panting hard. This was a dream he did not care to have again.

* * *

Hecate returned to the underworld, donning a new cloak as she passed the hanger by the door. She slunk up the stairs, weightless as a feather, in an effort to keep her absence unknown. At the top of the steps, she turned left, making her way to the door furthest from her. She studied the door for a moment: painted bright red at her request, it was easily the most beautiful door in the underworld, yet it towered over her like a maleficent dragon. The thought made her shudder. She entered and settled in front of her vanity, mulling over what happened at the crossroads. She truly pitied Loki and often wondered, as she did now, if he would ever allow himself to take her torch. Growing sick of her own reflection, she tapped the glass with her index finger and Loki's image replaced her own. The god of mischief was sitting on his bed, probably also reflecting on_—_what he thought was_—_his dream.

"Hades is going to have a ball when that one enters the spirit world."

Cate turned, recognizing the voice instantly. "Father, you cannot keep coming here without his permission."

Perses winked at her joyfully. "Who said I didn't have permission?"

"You never have permission."

Perses laughed and smiled, but the mirror drew his attention. "Only you, my darling Cate, could remain optimistic while surrounded by so much death."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

His voice grew serious. "Some people cannot redeem themselves, Cate."

"That is why I am here to help them."

"Yes, yes," he agreed, "and you are good at it, but some people—"

"Some people just need a little help, father."

"—are not willing to let others help them."

Cate balled her hands into fists, her fingernails digging into the flesh of her palms. "The day I accept that answer will be the day I quit my job."

* * *

Time passed and Loki's plans failed. Cate watched it all from her vanity mirror.

One day as she was watching the demigod, a voice came from behind her, startling her. "So beautiful on the outside, so deranged on the inside."

"Father, why must you never knock? It is _so_ creepy."

Her old man chuckled. "Not as creepy as you watching that boy all the time."

Cate flushed. "Are you suggesting what I think you are?"

Perses raised his hands defensively. "All I am trying to say is that you spend an awful lot of time watching this particular mortal when you could be out wedding poor old Phorcys."

"Not this again," she said, exasperated. "Father, I have already told you that I do not wish to wed anyone."

"Fair enough, but Phorcys is much fairer than your mortal, and he is not so crazy."

A motion on the mirror caught her eye. She felt her heart crawl inside her mouth. "Father, look!"

He turned his eyes back to the mirror. The bifrost was broken, and Loki dangled above the abyss, holding on to Thor, who held on to Odin. "Poor child," Perses murmured.

Perses watched silently as Loki fell, but Cate was too attached to the mortal. He could see the quiet resolution flickering in her eyes.

"You will be stripped of your powers and your immortality."

She raised her arm, preparing a spell. "I care not."

Perses held her down, desperation in his eyes. "Stop, Cate! All mortals end up in the Styx regardless of their actions. There is no point."

Cate lifted her finger anyway, determined to send Loki somewhere—anywhere—other than the abyss.

"_Not him._"

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A/N -

ugh omg what is this this is so gross. i don't even know what to say.

adjklsdfhsaifhsoifshfhio

i guess i'll just give a little back story on some of the greek stuff since it is so obscure. hecate is the greek goddess of magic, witchcraft, the night, moon, ghosts, necromancy, et cetera. she lives in hades (not always but at least for a while) and haunts the crossroads, which represent all of the 'in between places', places i consider to be between light and darkness, good and bad, and the spirit world. she kindly lights torches for people who have lost their way.

perses is one of the people commonly attributed as being her father. he is the god of destruction, so naturally i had to make him act the opposite.

phorcys is not so important. he is god of the hidden dangers of the deep. hecate is most widely considered a virgin, never married. but on some accounts scylla is the daughter of her and phorcys.

on a side note, loki won't be ooc. he might have been off his guard in this chapter, but that is because it was a dream, and in dreams i think we all don't act quite ourselves. i will also try to stay true to who i think hecate is. she is 'the light in the darkness' and i do think generally tries to help people, but she is often mistaken as evil because of her affiliation with hades. her whole infatuation with loki will be explained later, trust me. i will also try to stay true to other greek myths, but i do think that if the greek gods had existed in our time period (or at all), then they would have advanced alongside us (explaining why the underworld is an enormous house and not a barren wasteland).

also if anyone wants to beta read for me, _please let me know—_i try my best with grammar in my stories, but it drives me insane not having a beta.


	2. Chapter 2

_It's woven in my soul_

_I need to let you go_

_Your eyes—they shine so bright  
_

_I want to save that light_

_I can't escape this now_

_Unless you show me how_

~Imagine Dragons, _Demons_

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* * *

This was not the punishment she had expected.

He had taken her powers, as she had known he would, but the realm Zeus had ostracized her to was entirely unfamiliar. It appeared as if he had trapped her in an unrelenting darkness, never to see the sun or bask in its light again. This was her punishment: she would live here and die here, forever in darkness, a mere mortal without a torch to light her own way. Her knees weakened and she fell to the ground, harsh sobs coming over like the tides of the sea.

Absorbed in her grief, she did not notice the man approaching her until he spoke. "I find nothing more insufferable than the obnoxious wailing of a woman." He stopped, looking down at her with distaste. "Calm yourself and answer me: where are we?"

There was something oddly familiar about that voice, some distinct quality she could not name. "How should I_—_" She looked up, her voice failing her. _Loki._ Her eyes widened in awe. _Just how is it that you are here?_

"A pity. It appears you are useless to me, woman."

He began walking away and as he did, the scenery changed. Bold, brown mountains and a dark forest preceding them emerged, surrounded by endless fields of dead grass. He looked as surprised as she was. She ran after him.

"I do not understand! This is my punishment. Why are you here?"

Loki was not listening. He appeared transfixed, staring intently at something in the forest she could not see, something hidden to her eyes, perhaps all eyes other than his. His attention lingered like some siren was calling out to him from deep within the forest, beseeching him, coercing him to come forth, to lose himself in the endlessness of the wood. She stepped forward and asked again. "_Why_ are you here?"

This time he turned and noticed her, really noticed her, for the first time. "I do not know. But I am certain my father has played a role in it."

"No."

"What would you know, mortal?"

The remark caught her off-guard. "How . . . did you know?"

"I can smell it on you, Midgard bitch."

"Why are you always so rude to me? No matter where or when we meet, or how I try to help you, you always treat me like some vermin you wish to squish under the heel of your shoe."

"Are you delirious? We have not met before."

"But we have, many times. Since your earliest days, we have met while you lay dreaming. I could never forget you, for you are the person who has needed the most guidance, but you never remember me. Most people do not. . . ." _Truly, just you,_ she thought to herself.

Loki furrowed his brows, piecing it all together. "You are the hooded woman from my last dream."

"I am the hooded woman from many of your dreams."

He looked skeptical. "What do you want with me, specter? Am I not tortured enough by reality?"

"I am no apparition, and I happen to have a name: Hecate. I am the goddess of the crossroads."

"There is no such thing. I do not have time for this." He turned and walked toward the forest. "Farewell, witch."

She watched him walk away, and, suddenly, she realized where she was. She threw her head in her hands, mentally scolding herself. How could she be so daft? Why had the environment changed so drastically? Why was Loki drawn to the dark forest? She had over complicated things by assuming they were under a spell, but the truth was so simple: Zeus would never be so kind in his punishment; he would never trap her with Loki, the one she broke the rules to save. Bittersweet, that was Zeus.

"Loki," she called after him, "you are dreaming."

She was trapped _inside_ him, inside his subconscious.

Loki looked down at himself in surprise. He was fading, and the woman and forest too. "I am . . . waking up."

She called out to him desperately. "Please, Loki! You have to wake up and remember everything that I say, that I need your help, that I am trapped here in your mind, in your dreams. Tell your father, tell your mother, and anybody that will listen."

Loki could feel his eyelids moving; he was starting to sense the morning light fluttering in through his chamber windows. "Why should I help you?"

"Because I helped you, and I will always help you and anyone else, even when you are not deserving of it."

Much to his dismay, he awoke in the confines of a cell. He remembered falling when Thor destroyed the Bifrost. Apparently the Allfather and Thor had managed to rescue him after all. Goddamn them. Why was it that he could remember nothing else save that strange dream?"

"Brother," a voice called from beyond his cell. "I am glad that you have woken up."

Loki threw his sheets to the floor and hopped to his feet. "Thor, I demand audience with the Allfather at once."

"That is well. He sent me to collect you."

They walked in silence for some time, one at a loss for words, one with too much to say. It was Thor who spoke first.

"Brother," he said as they passed the gardens where they played when they were young. "I do miss you."

There was a long, uncomfortable silence before Loki answered. "I am not your brother."

"I only wish_—"_

"_Thor,_" he hissed. "We were never brothers and never will be."

To Thor's ears his voice was like a knife: sharp, cutting, painful. Defeated, he quickened his pace and shifted his gaze away. "I only wish that things could go back to the way they were before."

Strangely enough, Loki found that Thor's words left him feeling empty_—_or perhaps sad; he could not tell.

... ... ...

Before him, Thor opened the big brass door, revealing his adoptive mother and Odin, sitting on his throne, all high and mighty and intolerable. Loki approached cautiously, arms behind his back, his chains clinking.

Odin wasted no time. "Is there any reason I should spare your life?" Thor shot Odin a desperate, shocked look.

Very seriously, Loki replied, "There is a woman in my head, Allfather."

Odin stood. "Is everything a game to you, boy?" Loki felt his father's spit landing on his face, repulsed. "Do you really expect me to believe that a woman has softened you, your anger, your_ jealousy_?" This time it was Frigga who shot Odin a look, clearly cross with him.

"I only wish it were so. I believe the woman called herself Hecate. She claimed to be a goddess and requested your immediate assistance."

"I see. . . ." Odin sat and leaned back, tapping his fingers. "This changes everything."

"Is she some sort of apparition, some demon even?"

"No, Loki. She is what she said she was."

"You always told me that there were nine realms and only so many gods." Odin did not reply, and Loki scowled. "Very well, I should know not to trust you."

Odin lowered his head. "Loki. . . ."

Loki felt bile rise in his throat and anger beginning to swell within him, weighing his chest down, contorting his features. "_Tell me! _How do I get her out of my head?"

"You cannot. The only way to rid yourself of her is to cross arms with Zeus. He is the only one with enough power to do such a thing."

"Why is she in my head?"

"I would go so far as to say that she is the one who saved your life, my son, and that this is her punishment for it." He nodded his head in thought. "Yes, yes, it seems she has managed to save your life twice now."

Loki's head jerked up. "_What?_"

* * *

It was hours until she met with Loki again, hours that she spent wandering in the dark, passing the time.

"I understand that you saved my life."

Cate turned, eyeing Loki disdainfully. "You are correct."

"Why did you not say so in the first place?"

"You barely gave me the time to introduce myself."

"I . . . apologize," he said, looking down at his feet. He then looked up at her, confused. "Why did you do it?"

Cate did not reply right away. She stood a moment, contemplating if she should answer, if he deserved an answer. "Kindness, if you must know."

Loki scoffed. "Kindness, or foolishness? I would never do such a thing, never make a sacrifice of such magnitude for someone else." He averted his eyes. "But, nonetheless, I thank you. . . . I owe you my gratitude, so-called goddess of the crossroads."

"You're welcome, so-called god of mischief."

He hesitated before replying. "How can I repay you?"

Cate thought for a moment. "Next time we meet," she said, "before you say anything else, say hello."

Loki agreed though he though it an odd request, and they walked together side by side, talking, learning. Cate asked if his parents had offered to help her, and Loki shook his head. He assured her that, no matter what, he would find a way to free her, if only to relieve himself of her presence.

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A/N -

power editing your work is such a bummer.

i do not english i am not made for this_  
_

anyway, loki is kind of being a jerk_—_granted, he kind of becomes one_—_but, really, i want them to have a legitimate, strong relationship, and that means that i want it to progress slowly and be believable. and he likely will show little to no kindness to her until a certain very important plot point i have in mind. he's proud. he's arrogant. he's loki.


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